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Definition of serval in English:

serval

noun

A slender African wild cat with long legs, large ears, and a black-spotted orange-brown coat.

‘On a night drive near Mwambashi Camp, in the Lower Zambesi National Park, on our final evening we also spotlight a leopard, several smaller cats (servals and civets), zebra and a white-tailed mongoose.’

‘Among prey of servals studied in South Africa's Kamberg Nature Reserve, 80 percent was made up of rodents weighing little more than one ounce.’

‘For those who have never seen a serval, you can describe it as looking like a small cheetah.’

‘I seen a serval only once near Satara on the main road to Orpen, on a night drive.’

‘There are three types of African Sachal, spotted hyena and a myriad of small predators such as the aard-wolf and the beautiful serval cat.’

‘A large spotted cat, possibly a serval, was seen close to railway lines at Ladycross near Brockenhurst.’

‘In East Africa small cats include wild cats, sand and serval cats.’

‘Over the years, we had filmed cheetahs, lions, leopards, African wildcats and servals (for the first ever film of them) but never caracals.’

‘They were quickly followed by three Asian species (bay cat, marbled cat, and Asian golden cat) and three African species (caracal, serval, and African golden cat).’

Origin

Late 18th century: from French, from Portuguese cerval deer-like, from cervo deer, from Latin cervus.